1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toy having a floating ornament enclosed in a transparent vessel so that the movements of the floating ornament can be enjoyably seen by rocking the vessel and, more particularly, to a toy of the above type which can also be used as an interior ornament when it is placed on a bookshelf, a desk, a table or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As the toy or interior ornament of the above-specified type, there has been used in the prior art an artificial flower, which is immersed in the water in a transparent glass, or an ornament which is constructed by assembling a model such as a sailboat in an empty bottle. In this toy or ornament, however, the ornamental member such as the artificial flower or the sailboat enclosed in the vessel is liable to be broken if it is shaked. Therefore, the toy or ornament can be said nothing but a decoration and is not enjoyable because no motion can be given to the ornamental member in the vessel.
On the other hand, a sandglass clocks a predetermined time merely by dropping sand through a throat of the vessel thereof. The sandglass thus constructed is not so enjoyable. Therefore, I have proposed a sandglass (as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,707) in which water fills up a vessel to drag the sand dropping from upper to lower compartments thereby to decelerate the dropping speed of the sand and in which gears are disposed just above and below the throat defining the two compartments so that they may be turned by the sand dropping from the upper compartment through the throat to the lower compartment thereby to present enjoyable sand motions in addition to the clocking action.
Although the sandglass can present the enjoyable motions of both the gears disposed in the vessel and the dropping sand, it is not suitable for an ornament while it is not used as a timing device but is placed on the bookshelf, desk or table.
On the other hand, there exists an ornament in which a transparent, rectangular box is filled up with two kinds of liquids such as petroleum and water having the properties of not mixing with each other such that the lower liquid is colored blue whereas the upper liquid is left transparent and in which the box is actuated to make seesaw motions at all times so that the liquids therein may be moved like rolling waves. However, what can be presented by this ornament are the motions of the waves, and the ornament is not so enjoyable either.